• Arash-Dorra Gas Field
  • This offshore gas field, located in the Persian Gulf, is known as Arash in Iran and Dorra in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
• Karish and Qana gas fields
  • Karash is a confirmed gas field and Qana is a prospective gas field, located in Mediterranean Sea.
  • Israel has secured full rights to Karish, while Lebanon’s rights to Qana were also recognised.
  • Lebanon agreed for some potential revenue from Qana, part of which lies within Israel’s waters, to go to Israel.

• PM Modi laid the foundation stone for the redevelopment works of 508 railway stations in the country through video conferencing under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme.
• Redeveloped at a cost of more than Rs 24,470 crores, these 508 stations are spread across 27 states and union territories.
• Master Plans were being prepared for the development of these stations as ‘City Centres’, with proper integration of both sides of the city.
• This integrated approach is driven by the holistic vision of the overall urban development of the city, centred around the railway station.
• These stations will have better seating on platforms, upgraded waiting rooms and free Wi-Fi amongst other things.
• The redevelopment will provide modern passenger amenities along with ensuring well-designed traffic circulation, inter-modal integration, and signage for the guidance of passengers.
• The design of the station buildings will be inspired by local culture, heritage, and architecture.

• The term “juice jacking” refers to a form of cyberattack where a public USB charging port is tampered with and infected using hardware and software changes to steal data or install malware on devices connected to it.
• The attack is used by hackers to steal users’ passwords, credit card information, addresses, and other sensitive data stored on the targeted device.
• Juice jacking attacks can take place in any public place with portable wall chargers, or public USB charging stations found in shopping malls, cafes, and hotels.
• The term “juice jacking” was first coined in 2011 by investigative journalist Brian Krebs.

• National Handloom Day is observed annually on August 7^th. This day honours the handloom weavers and recognises their role in the country’s economy and culture.
• The Theme of National Handloom Day 2023 is “Handlooms for Sustainable Fashion”.
  • It emphasises the significance of handloom weaving as an environmentally friendly procedure and sustainable substitute for machine-made fabrics.
• The origin of National Handloom Day has its roots back in the Swadeshi Movement, which was launched on August 7^th, 1905 from Calcutta Town Hall.
  • However, the day came into celebration only after 2015.
  • The Government of India, in 2015, designated August 7 as National Handloom Day.
  • Now, it is celebrated across the country with a variety of events and activities.

• Union Finance Minister recently laid the foundation stone for the establishment of a museum in Adichanallur, to showcase artefacts from ancient Tamil civilization, excavated from this archaeological site.
• The museum is to come up on five acres of land.
• The upcoming on-site ASI Museum will showcase all these artefacts ‘in-situ’, providing a world-class experience to visitors and researchers alike.

About Adichanallur

• Adichanallur was one of the five archaeological sites declared to be developed as ‘Iconic Sites’ in the Union Budget 2020-21.
• It is an archaeological site located on the banks of river Thamirabarani in Thoothukudi district, Tamil Nadu.
• The excavation has unearthed burial urns, metal and bronze products used by ancient Tamils and a gold diadem.
• Various objects dating back to 467 BCE and food grains such as millets and paddy dated 665 BCE have been unearthed here.
• Adichanallur inhabitants had embalmed the dead with herbal medicines before interring them into an urn, alongside the jewels, clothes and food they used.
• The Adichanallur inhabitants had consumed paddy and Thinai over 3,400 years ago.
• At least 5,000 artefacts belonging to Adichanallur are in foreign countries.

• Cabinet has approved an outlay of ₹1.39 lakh crore for BharatNet, the government’s project for last-mile connectivity across 6.4 lakh villages in the country.
• Around 94 lakh villages have been connected at present and rest of the villages are expected to be connected in the next 2.5 years.
• BBNL, which is an arm of State-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) now, will be partnering with village level entrepreneurs (VLEs) to provide the connectivity.
  • A VLE is a person responsible for managing and operating a Common Service Center (CSC) under the CSC scheme.
  • The model to take fibre to the home with the help of a local entrepreneur was finalised after successful completion of a pilot project.
  • Around 3,800 entrepreneurs were involved in the pilot project that was carried out for 60,000 villages that provided 3.51 lakh broadband connections.
  • Average data consumption per household has been recorded to the tune of 175 gigabyte per month.
• The project is being rolled out on 50 per cent revenue share between BBNL and VLE and the monthly broadband plan price starts from ₹399 and goes up to ₹799 with a minimum speed of 30mbps.

About BharatNet

• BharatNet is one of the biggest rural telecom projects in the world, implemented in a phased manner to all 2.5 lakh gram panchayats (GPs) in the country for last-mile broadband connectivity.
• The project was first approved by the Cabinet in October 2011 and is being executed by Bharat Broadband Network (BBNL), as a special purpose vehicle (SPV).
• Phase-II was approved in 2017 and funding for the project in both phases has been ₹42,068 crore.
• It is funded by Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF).
  • USOF is the pool of funds generated by a 5% Universal Service Levy that is charged upon all the telecom fund operators on their Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR).
• There are 37 lakh route kilometers (rkm) of optical fibre cable (OFC) laid in the country out of which BBNL has laid 7.7 lakh km OFC.

• A publication, titled ‘75 Endemic Birds of India’, was recently released on the 108th foundation day of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI).

Major findings

• About 5% of birds found in the country are endemic and are not reported in other parts of the world.
• India is home to 1,353 bird species, which represents approximately 12.40% of global bird diversity. Of these, 78 (5%) are endemic to the country.
• Of the 78 species, three species have not been recorded in the last few decades. They are
  • the Manipur Bush Quail (Perdicula manipurensis), listed as ‘Endangered’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species with its last recorded sighting in 1907;
  • the Himalayan Quail (Ophrysia superciliosa), listed as ‘Critically Endangered’ with its last recorded sighting in 1876; and
  • the Jerdon’s Courser (Rhinoptilus bitorquatus), listed as ‘Critically Endangered’ with its last confirmed sighting in 2009.
• The publication points out that the 75 bird species belong to 11 different orders, 31 families, and 55 genera, and exhibit remarkable distribution patterns across various regions in India.
• The highest number of endemic species have been recorded in the Western Ghats, with 28 bird species. These include-
  • Malabar Grey Hornbill; Malabar Parakeet; Ashambu Laughing Thrush; and the White-bellied Sholakili.
• 25 bird species are endemic to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
  • Endemism in the Andaman group of islands must have developed because of the geographical isolation of the region.
  • Some interesting bird species which are only found in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are Nicobar Megapode; Nicobar Serpent Eagle; Andaman Crake; and Andaman Barn Owl.
• Four species of birds are endemic to the Eastern Himalayas, and one each to the Southern Deccan plateau and central Indian forest.
• Of the 78 endemic species–
  • 25 are classified as ‘Threatened’ by the IUCN.
  • 3 species (Bugun Liocichla; Himalayan Quail; Jerdon’s Courser) are listed as ‘Critically Endangered’.
  • 5 species as ‘Endangered’, and
  • 17 as ‘Vulnerable’, while
  • 11 are categorised as ‘Near Threatened’ on the IUCN Red List.

• Hattee Community, with over 2.53 lakh population of Trans Giri tract (GIRIPAR) in Sirmaur district, has been finally granted Schedule Tribe status after a long drawn battle.
• The battle took off slightly late as Girirpar areas ought to have got the ST status in 56 years back itself when Bawar-Jaunsar hills of the then Uttar Pradesh and now Uttarakhand were declared tribal by the Union Government.
• Historical facts and current circumstances reveal that villagers of Girirpar were deprived of their right despite the fact that their traditions, primitive culture of polyandry and ancient type of festivals, economic backwardness, illiteracy, etc. were identical to their brethren who got a privileged ST status in 1967.
• Hattees are a close-knit community and derive their name from the tradition of selling homegrown vegetables, crops, meat, wool etc. at small markets.

• Ethiopian government has declared a state of emergency in its second-largest region, Amhara, following days of clashes between the military and local Fano militiamen.
• The declaration gives the government the power to ban public gatherings, make arrests without warrants, and to impose curfews.

• The government’s think-tank NITI Aayog has laid out a standard definition and approach of water neutrality for industries in a new report released.
• According to the Aayog, henceforth water neutrality will be defined as–
  • “total freshwater consumption which is referred to as the sum total of direct freshwater use as well as estimated indirect or virtual water use as a part of water critical supply chains, applicable as on current date referred to as the date on which the evaluation is done, should either be less than or equal to all the quantifiable (and verifiable) water savings achieved through strategies undertaken as well as to be further (and futuristically) executed towards improving operational water use efficiencies, water conservation efforts.”
• In its report, the Aayog has estimated that practicing water neutrality standards could lead to a total savings of 38.23 BCM (billion cubic metre) of water over the next 10 years till 2032.
• As per the report, the primary aim of the water neutrality concept is to reduce demand for water but not regarding it as a replacement for existing regulatory tools.
• Benefits- it will help save water, lead to its efficient use and enable evaluation and validation of the water neutrality claims made by industries.